Just Be You

During my usual morning routine of scanning Facebook, I came across a picture that I found to be rather interesting. 

 

Before today I would have said something like, "Exactly! She's a mermaid, a beautiful, mythical creature that we "lesser" creatures (humans) only ever dream about. How can she want to be one of us?"

However when read this quote today I saw something different, and my thoughts weren't directed to Ariel, but to the person who penned this quote. Why would you want to be a mermaid?

Don't get me wrong, mermaids are cool, and I used to spend so much time make believing that I was some mythical creature who was far more beautiful and extraordinary than the plain, ordinary, insignificant, human that I am and always will be.

But why? Why do we think that we as human beings aren't amazing and wonderful ourselves? We are fascinating! I very biology is incredible! 

Check this out:

 

How incredible is that? Not the whole dying of a broken heart bit, but the fact that our body is so connected to us, to who we are, that it can be just as affected by our emotions as our soul is. Amazing!

Take a moment and look at your hands, really look at them. The lines, the veins, your fingernails. at the palm of your hand and touch your thumb to your pinky finger. Look at how the skin and the muscles move and contract, then relax and watch them go back to how they were. Wow! Now look at the back of your hand, at your knuckles and fingers. Strum your fingers while still looking at your hand. See the movement under the skin? Those are your bones, muscles, tendons all doing what they do best! You can even see the muscles in your forearm moving as you do it! Awesome!

And can we take a moment to acknowledge how awesome what you just did was? Your brain told your body to do something and it did it! How cool is that? 

I recognize that not everyone has a body that functions correctly. To those of my readers that may be facing that kind of a situation, know that you have my deepest, most heartfelt sympathies. The only malfunctioning I've ever really had that hindered my every day activities were sprained ankles and a broken wrist. I would list being sick as a malfunction, but if you think about it really it's just more evidence that your body is working because there is something inside of you it is trying to fight off. 

Anyways, for those of you who don't have the functioning body you want, know this. You are more than the body you are in. 

A few years ago my older sister had open heart surgery. When she woke up she wasn't the same. Somehow a switch or two in her brain got flipped and now she struggles with her balance and her speech. She was an EMT with aspirations of becoming a firefighter. Those dreams were shattered. 

The past 5 and a half years have been a real struggle, with many ups and downs, twists, turns, and even some derailments. But, in spite of it all, she has come out of it pretty well. She still has the knowledge that she did prior to her surgery, still has the EMT instinct that she had before. Twice after her surgery she snapped into EMT mode to help someone. Her body isn't functioning correctly, but she is still just as amazing and incredible as she always has been.

 

We spend so much time looking at the "mermaids" in our lives -- the people we deem smarter, better looking, more successful -- and then we look at ourselves and think, "I'm just an ordinary human." What we forget is just how incredible it is to be human! We forget about the little things that make us as beings so remarkable.

 

Have a happy Sunday everyone. And remember to just be you, because you are pretty amazing. :)

The Book Game

Last night as part of our Valentine's Day (or should I say, Singles Awareness Day?) activities, myself, my sisters Maddy, Amanda, and Vanessa, and my best friend Kayla went to Barnes and Noble to play "The Book Game". The object of the game is to create a story from random sentences in random books. Note, the story doesn't have to have an actual plot, the sentences just need to flow together as if there is some kind of plot. :)

For those who may want to try this game themselves, here's how to play.

Needed:
-1 or more players (the more the better)
-Audio recording device or a pen and paper

1. You and or a group of friends visit some place that has books (you can use your own personal library of books if you don't feel up to going out).
2. Each player selects a book a random (when we played last night we picked different books from the same genre, but you can switch it up).
3. Turn to a random page in the book and pick a random sentence from that page (you can close your eyes to make it more interesting).
4. Everyone takes a turn reading the sentence they have selected. The group then tries to organize the selected sentences in an order that may provide some modicum of sense.
5. Record what you have constructed either on paper or record each person reading their sentence. This makes it easy to recall what has happened in the story thus far and provides the opportunity to come back to it when the game is finished.
6. Everyone picks a new book and the process repeats. This is a good point to change genres if everyone is choosing books from the same section.
7. Repeat steps 1-6 until you have had enough. When you have reached the end of your game, every players chooses a book and flips to the last sentence in the book (from the actual story, not any additional pages printed after the story's end). The group can then decide which ending sentence they like best. If you can't decide, use them all!

So that's the game. This is the resulting story from when we played it last night.

THE MOVING STORY WITH
NO REAL PLOT

I went to his room and stood in the doorway, looking in at the broken bed, the unused toys, the stuffed pony and other relics of the childhood my little brother never had.

Dan was relieved to find that Felix was still gone. Of course, she's not okay.

"She sounded nervous, Adam. Why would she be nervous about me talking about Julien if she hadn't done anything wrong?"

"So now they're just gone?" Macey asked.

She was just walking in front of us in her shin high boots, her hood pulled up, her head down. And then I heard a deep rumble above us and turned around to see a keg of beer rolling down the exit ramp with considerable speed.

I would not have imagined that mother could laugh at anything having to do with that tragic event, but laugh she did.

Think, think, think. I looked around frantically like I was suddenly going to find something that would help break me out of the mess I was in.

                        * * * * *

"So come inside and get good and schnockered."

No need. Cassidy paced the room to stop herself from throwing something at him. He found her as handsome as she had been last year, as goodnatured and as unaffected though not quite so chatty.

"You lost my staff?" Palin seemed near fainting.

"And our armor?" Sturm shouted veins swelling in his neck.

It was true the howling, hooting noises of the dogs were dopplering away from them now, receding into the distance, deeper into the woods.

"I didn't really think it was all that bad."

The driver of the grey Subaru, a young mother with a toddler gripping her hand approached. "Is he okay?"

He lifted his head and stared blankly out of the window at the billowing current of thin, slanted rain. Filled with a kind of reckless hope as well as the dreamy side effects of the first true intimate relationship of his life Josh barely notices the absence of the other members of his group.

"I hear you had a little run in with the McLaury brothers last night," said Wyatt.

The moving spoon paused.

               * * * * *

Cities like forests have their dimness in which hide all their most evil and terrible monsters. The back seat keeps getting hotter so I roll down the window and enjoy the dirty wind whipping my hair against my face.

"Why should the queen come here?" Amy asked her mouth trembling.

"We did birdwatching, then the IRA --which is actually a good story--"

It was finally Pegasus who offered the best possible solution by suggesting that they capture a couple of CRU agents and force them to describe the facility and help in the rescue.

She slipped hers into her tail and I put mine in my jacket pocket. It was a relief to have some breathing room from the others.

"'Sending you secret messages when I miss you.' I'm trying to find out who gave the very first one. First I need to get some wool. Yes, I do. Anything else new?"

"You want to come upstairs?"

Grainger tried to put a different interpretation on the task that lay ahead.

"Oh come on fella don't play games."

But Wad didn't react at all.

"To each his own I guess," said Webber.

"You sure you don't want to just crash?" Asked Rook when he and Nikki got back to his loft. "She also loves to perch, which is great except for when I've gone too long since clipping her nails, as she makes tiny claw grasping biscuits on your leg while she perches, an unfortunate expression of affection and love..."

The rest, my friend, is up to you.

THE END

Ha ha ha! Kinda crazy, but it was loads of fun. If any of you try out this game please share your results!